Small Doses
by TheDragonLover
Summary: She couldn't believe what was happening to her, after all of the trouble she had gone through to avoid things like this. Her plan was crashing down all around her. ColdShoulderShipping. COMPLETED!
1. Part One

_Here is my first attempt at a PMD2-based fic. It was gonna be a oneshot (for some reason, "an oneshot" just sounds weird when said aloud), just to put the spotlight on a very rare pairing in the PMD2 world (or I think it's rare, at least, I haven't seen it myself)–Gallade/Weavile (Antiquityshipping), with the Gallade from Team Raider and the Weavile from Team AWD__–but then it grew and, well, now it's a twoshot__. Heh.  
_

_I don't remember much from when I last played PMD2 (it's been a while since I've lost it), so sorry if they somehow are out-of-character, even though their characters never seemed to be explored much in the games in the first place. If I remember correctly, Team AWD seemed to be sort of like thieves, except maybe more honorable. I could be wrong here; in fact, I'm probably completely wrong! But, I like the idea anyways, so bleh, deal with it!_

_Here are the characters from the two teams that I will have in this twoshot:_

_Gallade = Rain (male, der)  
Roserade = Melody (female)  
Rhyperior = Bobby (female)  
Weavile = Lady Weavile (female, der)  
Arbok = Corvax (male)  
Drapion = Toxi (female)_

_These names aren't official, and the genders (except for the Gallade and the Weavile who is called "Lady Weavile" in the game) aren't either. It's just a fanfic, so don't have a cow if the way I write it is different than the way you imagine it._

_Enough with the warnings! On to the fic! . . . After these messages from our sponsors. :D_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything of the Pokemon franchise–I only own the specific personalities for these characters, not their species. (Boy, haven't done one of these in a while!)

**Rating**: T for language and violence. But, knowing me, that's nothing new, right?

* * *

They were this close to reaching the treasure first.

"Hurry up, Corvax!" The Drapion called back to the Arbok lagging behind. "We're almost to the end! I can sense it!"

"I'd make a joke about _ssss_senses_ssss_ tingling," he puffed, "but you're not a _ssss_Spinarak and I'm exhaus_ssss_ted."

"Hush," Lady Weavile scolded them both, putting a claw to her lips as she stopped in her tracks. "I think I hear someone else nearby."

They all halted in their tracks and listened to the sounds of the cave, and, sure enough, there was a mild murmuring coming from around the corner. They crept to it and peeked into the room to see figures standing before a random pool of water that surrounded an island, holding what they sought. One of the figures, the smaller one, leapt gracefully over the water to reach the treasure, and Lady Weavile gritted her teeth.

"No way, bitch."

Suddenly, she wasn't there anymore, and as her teammates looked around for her in confusion they heard an exclamation of surprise from the room. They dashed in to see their leader already at the island with her claws on the chest as she argued with the Roserade of Team Raider. Outside of the ring of water stood her teammates, a Gallade and a Rhyperior, both looking edgy now that the well-known thieves were there.

They were notorious for taking treasure right under explorers' noses.

"Sorry, darling," the Sharp Claw Pokemon taunted with a sly smile, "but I'm afraid I can't let you have this."

"Lady Weavile!" The serpent quickly made his way to the edge of the water, but he was unable to swim. He looked across to the two on the island and threatened, "If you lay one petal on her, I'll give you a bite to remember me by!"

"Not so fast." The Gallade stepped up, furrowing his brow at Corvax. "Nobody should get hasty, now . . ."

"That's _our_ treasure!" The Roserade stomped her foot angrily, pointing at the chest Lady Weavile was holding. "We got here _first!_"

"Ah, ah!" Lady Weavile wagged a claw at the fuming Pokemon. "Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

The Roserade grew even more furious and lunged at her with a vine covered with thorns, but she nimbly dodged it and leapt across the water to land on the Drapion's back, telling her, "Pedal to the metal, Toxi!" As the thieves began to make their escape, she looked over her shoulder to taunt the Roserade once more. "See you later, losers!"

After they had left, Team Raider's Psychic/Fighting-Type let his shoulders sag as the Rhyperior commented, "Well, Rain, that went well." They watched the third member of the team have a stomping-and-ranting-to-no-one-in-particular-fit as they tried to salvage what was left of their dignity before using their badges to return home.

* * *

"Hey, you!"

"Uh-oh," Lady Weavile muttered under her breath as she heard an unfortunately familiar voice call out to them while they were on their way out of Treasure Town. "Team, split up!" They all went in separate directions to lower the chance of the whole team being caught, and the leader looked back only to see that, what do you know, the leader of Team Raider was chasing her. Great.

_Time to lose this loser,_ she thought with a smirk before turning to run backwards and clutching a dark purple ball, tossing a Dark Pulse into his face. With him recovering from the blow, she quickly darted to the side, and as she hid behind a tree she heard his footsteps stop as he searched for her. She grinned and mused, _he'll end up wearing himself out before he can catch me._ She then ran off to leave him there, ready to take the long way home.

Suddenly, a blur of white, and Rain was in front of her. Startled, she jumped to the side to barely avoid some Fighting move that was aimed at her stomach. _Whoa, gotta focus!_ With him having double the advantage with his Fighting moves, she had to be careful or it would all end in the blink of an eye. Speed and dexterity–and a high level of ingenuity–would be what "won" this battle.

She put her palms together and once more threw a Dark Pulse at him, this time to hurt him instead of distract him. He raised his arms in the shape of an "x", however, and guarded against the move before charging forward and slashing at her with both elbow-blades extended. It wasn't effective against her, but it did do some damage, and she put some distance between them so she could have a moment to plan.

That was all she had, though. Immediately, he ran after her, and it became a chase again; she turned and ran off into the woods, needing to get away before he could hit her with a fatal blow. As they leapt through the trees, her thoughts flew by at an incredible rate, trying to give her a strategy before he got another hit on her. _What to do, what to do? I'm alone while the rest of my team fends off his . . . what can I do to confuse him? Come on, Weavile, think . . ._

Something came to mind that made her smile.

_Excellent._

He then tried to jab at her from the right, but she ducked under his arm and rushed in to deliver a blow to his chest, her claws glowing purple. He at first seemed to think it was another Dark Pulse she wanted to get a point-blank hit on, but she quickly dispelled that theory when she punched forward and managed to hit her target–with Poison Jab. The move itself did very little to affect him, but if she was lucky, he was now poisoned. That would help her in the long run.

He still didn't seem to get it, for he grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder to smack into a tree (which she would have done if she hadn't had awesome reflexes). He most likely thought it was just Shadow Claw or something like that, considering he probably hadn't felt much from the blow. She was glad for this, for now she was confident that he'd eventually get too weak to fight or follow her anymore. She then opted to keep him from thinking about it too much by attacking him some more, or more accurately, blowing Icy Wind his way.

After the first few minutes of this hit-and-run tactic of hers, it was obvious that Rain was getting tired fast and he knew it–but there was nothing he could do about it, because he had no items with him at the moment. He just had to deal with it as he fought her, struggling to hit her as she danced around him teasingly. She was actually enjoying this, because the expression on his face was priceless. "What's the matter, darling?" She asked him with a smile. "Getting a little tired?"

This seemed to finally tick him off, for he stopped his worthless attacks and stood still for a moment. His fist started to glow white as he closed his eyes, but Lady Weavile took no notice of this for she jumped to a tree branch and continued to taunt him. "My, I think the little knight's bushed!" She put a claw on the trunk and leaned against it like one would a wall, and she commented, "You're not in shape, darling. You should work out more."

He took his time to power up, and it was only when he opened his eyes and grinned that she noticed his fist. _Focus Punch._ Her eyes widened, and she was going to turn to leap away from–

_BAM!_

"Ugh!" Very unladylike, as Corvax would have commented, she grunted at the blow to her stomach and fell to the forest floor with a dull _thud_ as he returned lightly to the ground. He stood steadily for a moment, looking at her still form carefully for any sign of trickery, before finally falling to his knees in exhaustion. She caught the blurry sight of him collapsing face first before she blacked out completely.

* * *

"Ugh . . . I feel like Toxi sat on my stomach and Brick Break'd me in the chest until I couldn't breathe . . ."

"Really, now?"

What had originally been a normal morning routine (wake up, complain about how she felt, get a bite to eat) became a state of panic as Lady Weavile leapt to her feet in an instant–and fell back down soon after that. In all of the excitement, she never really got to see who had spoken, but that soon became clear as a painfully familiar white-and-green face appeared over her as she held her head in agony. Her teary eyes eventually cleared up to see the Gallade of Team Raider leaning over to look down at her on the ground.

"Still aching after the fight?"

She scowled at him, growling, "Shut up, you! You did this to me!"

"And you," Rain motioned at his scuffed up self, "did _this_ to _me_." He, indeed, had a good number of injuries on him, from bruises to cuts, and even a purple-colored mark on his chest where she had hit him with Poison Jab. She was a bit proud, to say the least, but she didn't say it aloud in case he got angry again and Focus Punch'd her into a coma.

"Fine," Lady Weavile mumbled as she slowly sat up, wincing at the motion. "You win." She then looked around herself, looking for her small satchel that she was sure had fallen off during the battle. But, where was it? And . . . to be more specific, where were they?

"If you're looking for your bag," he told her, as if reading her mind, "I found it nearby hanging on a tree branch. It doesn't have much in it, though . . ."

_Damn. So someone decided to steal from me while I was asleep._ She huffed. _Bastard._

Her first question was, "Where are we?"

"Somewhere in the woods far outside of Treasure Town." He seemed a bit down about that, as if he didn't want to spend time out there around her. _Well, good, I don't want to spend time with _him_, either!_ They were obviously injured, though, and with no items to heal them . . .

"We're lost, and stuck." It was a blunt and calm statement.

He nodded.

"Great." He ignored this comment, so she scowled behind his back before reaching over to her satchel to see what _was_ still in there. To be honest, there wasn't _much_ left–there was an apple and one Oran berry, but that was it. Otherwise, she was item-less. "Double great."

"Do you have a Pecha berry?"

She glanced over to the Gallade still with his back to her, and she raised an eyebrow before replying, "No, I don't." She didn't know he was still poisoned, but now that she looked at him more closely she noticed his breathing pattern was a bit ragged. She gave a small grin at the thought that she had almost taken down the co-leader of Team Raider. _Oh, I'm good._

". . . Oh." He sort of shrugged, mumbling, "Alright, then."

As he became quiet again, she was struck by a stunning realization–he hadn't looked in her bag. He couldn't have, if he asked for a Pecha berry. So, how did he know there was little in it? She gave it an expert shake, and decided it must have been its weight that determined it. But still, it was amazing that he hadn't looked into her satchel, considering how many others have always wanted to see what was inside (like Corvax). So, she had a small ounce of respect for him.

He then spoke up, "It's sort of fitting, you know." When she gave a confused hum, he looked over his shoulder. "For the thief to get robbed, I mean."

She scowled. Whatever little respect she had gained for him just flew out the proverbial window. "_You_ have a weird code of honor." She crossed her arms and growled, "And we aren't thieves."

"Oh, really?" Rain finally turned around to face her with a "you're kidding, right" expression. "Because, from what _I've_ seen and heard, you've stolen many treasures from other exploration teams."

"And this is coming from the leader of Team "Raiders". I'm telling you, we aren't!" Lady Weavile gave him a glare as he still didn't look convinced. "Really! Darling, have we ever taken anything that was yours?"

"Yes, you have–"

"Anything straight from your hands?"

"I . . ." He stopped for a moment to think about that one. "Not _straight_ from our hands, but–"

"Exactly!" She was staring at him as if he was a Psyduck she had smacked and was waiting for him to feel his headache. "We don't _steal._ That's how we Weavile are. If it's not in your hands first, then it's not yours."

"That's . . ." He crossed his arms as he frowned thoughtfully. ". . . an interesting philosophy."

"You don't think I've gotten things taken before, too?" She had a serious look in her carnelian gaze as it glazed over in her memories. "We've had our fair share of times where things were stolen right under our noses. Team Skull normally had to do with that, but there were other Pokemon, too. It's just how this game works, it doesn't favor anyone or anything."

"You see it all as a game?" When she nodded, Rain was silent for a moment of contemplation. He furrowed his brow, as if he opposed the thought, and he eventually spoke up about it. "Exploring is a serious business, filled with perils and responsibility. There's no time to mess around, or you might cause your team to fail the mission, or worse, get injured."

"Is that what you think?" When he nodded, Lady Weavile looked up at the blue sky they could see among the treetops. With her gaze on one of the puffy clouds, she told him, "You stress out too much. That's not good for your health. Sometimes, you should let bygones be bygones and just go with the flow." A tiny smile appeared on her snout as she waved a claw around them. "Exploring was made to be an adventure, a journey filled with fun and surprises! To make it a duty and all serious . . . that's not what it was made for; that's like a grappling hook having a short reach, it just destroys the purpose."

They were quiet for a while after that, neither of them knowing what to say or whether they should say anything at all. They were from different teams, different perspectives, different _worlds_, and the variations between them were vast. How would you start a conversation with your exact opposite?

As this silence lengthened, Lady Weavile took the liberty to groom herself, getting a few sticks out of her headdress of feathers and dusting the dirt off of her stomach. She was very conscious of herself, and to be caught dirty was something that appalled her. She was careful to scratch away the dirt between her claws, and although he was watching she pretended that he didn't exist as she did her work thoroughly.

". . . Why _do_ you Weavile have feathers?"

"Hm?" She looked up at him. "Say again, darling?"

"Rain," he grunted a bit uncomfortably, as if he didn't like being called "darling" by someone who was constantly trying to either get to the treasure first or cause him bodily harm with a well-placed Dark Pulse. He then went on as she raised a curious eyebrow, "Your feathers, they always seemed out of place for a creature that doesn't fly."

"And the fin on your head," she replied, "seems out of place for a creature that isn't a Sharpedo."

". . . touché." He seemed to give her that as he grew quiet once more, and she scoffed and sat down on the ground to start cleaning between her toes.

* * *

Many months later–long after they had found their way out and returned to their respective teams–Lady Weavile found herself sitting on the beach, looking across the water and watching the Krabby all scuttle away, signaling a stormy night was ahead. She didn't mind the rain, although she preferred the cold of the snow, and wasn't afraid to stay there for as long as she wanted. It was a way to collect her thoughts, away from her chaotic teammates and the constant pressure of being a leader of an exploration team. Over the course of the past few weeks, she had felt the tension increase to nearly an unbearable point–before Corvax finally let it _ssss_slip out.

"Corvax and Toxi." She chuckled at the idea, calling herself stupid for never noticing it before. "I mean, they _did_ argue occasionally, but when I was busy they only had each other to hang out with. It was inevitable, I suppose."

"What was inevitable?" She jumped at the voice only to finally notice the long pair of white legs to her right belonging to the leader of Team Raider. She didn't scowl or roll her eyes this time, however, which might have surprised him (she wasn't sure from this angle, and her eyes were on the ocean anyway).

"My teammates hooked up like a pair of Luvdisc."

"Ah." After a moment of hesitation, he took a seat beside her on the sand, crossing his legs and resting his elbows on his thighs (blades withdrawn, of course). Silence stretched between them like a rubber band for a while, until he decided to snap it away like a student would when bored. "That's definitely news to me."

"Oh, they haven't gone public with it yet," she told him, rolling her shoulders back to inhale deeply. The salty and damp air weighed heavily on her, but instead of making her claustrophobic it felt like the ocean was hugging her. "They said they were waiting until they knew how to tell everyone." She shrugged at the strange look she felt him give her. "I don't see what their problem is; a relationship is a relationship! Just go up and say "hey, guys, we're like in love" or something, and bam! Problem solved."

Rain pursed his lips. "That's an interesting way to put it, but I agree."

"At least _someone_ does," she mumbled, although she gave him a playful smirk as they both chuckled at the conversation they were having. It was strange how she suddenly felt so at ease with him–but then again, after spending a few days with only each other and then being thrown back into their leadership roles, perhaps this was her escape from it all. It was like being lost all over again.

"You're not the only one with relationships going around on your team," he finally spoke up after a long period of comfortable silence. When she looked at him curiously, she found his face was indifferent except for his eyes; the maroon orbs seemed to be lost in such deep thought that it was almost as if he was speaking to himself. "Just this afternoon, Melody came up to me and told me that she had feelings for me."

Lady Weavile racked her brain as she tried to remember Team Raider's members. "Uhh . . . the Roserade?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Damn, darling." She copied his cross-legged position and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over at him curiously. "How's that feel?"

The Gallade glanced at her in surprise. "To be honest, I was expecting you to ask what happened next."

She grinned and replied cheekily, "Well, I was going to ask that next, of course."

"Of course," he repeated with a smile. "Hm, how's it feel? To be honest, I have no clue. I've never had someone like me like _that_ before. For looks, of course, but not as deep as she seemed to."

""Looks, of course"?" The Sharp Claw Pokemon donned a mischievous smirk on her face and gave him a light shove, taunting, "You're almost more conceited than _I_ am! And, trust me, darling, that's hard to achieve."

"Oh," he held up a hand, his tone sarcastic, "I could never hope to surpass you. You're _way_ out of my league."

"Damn straight!" She huffed although she was grinning merrily at how much fun she was having. Then, after letting it die down to her usual smug smirk, she poked his shoulder with her claw. "So, now may I ask what happened?"

"Well, I felt terrible to do so, but I had to tell her that, although I was flattered, I didn't feel the same." He sighed, looking genuinely guilty as he stared at the sand before them. "I've never seen someone look so heartbroken after I'd told them that."

"But those were just crazy fangirls, not one of your crazy teammates."

The corners of his mouth curved upwards a bit. "Because those are totally different types of crazy. One chases you around town to beg for you autograph and a date while the other will kill you for one wrong move!"

"You know, you weren't _nearly_ this much fun when we were lost."

He thought about that for a while. "I guess we can only handle each other in small doses."

* * *

She saw him once more as the teams passed each other down the road, and she made sure to be noticeable as she called, "Hey, darling!" When his gaze landed on her, Lady Weavile waved daintily at him before blowing him a kiss, winking mischievously. She watched him roll his eyes at her antics, but she was more interested in the furious look that came across the Roserade's face behind him. _Oh, that glower could kill a Wingull on sight!_ Snickering behind a claw haughtily, she was brought out of her taunting phase to notice that her teammates were watching her curiously. Frowning, she asked them, "What are you two staring at?"

". . . Nothing, but . . ." The Arbok shifted his gaze between the girls of the group. "You've been keeping an awful lot of attention on Team Raider's_ssss _Gallade, is_ssss_ all."

"And it looks a bit weird," Toxi added, earning both of them sour glares from their leader.

Lady Weavile scoffed. What were these two idiots thinking? "I'll have you know," she told them sternly, "that I am simply annoying him because I can. He's an easy target, you know, since he doesn't fight back." When they didn't seem to be convinced, she scowled at their suspicions. "_What?_"

Corvax looked down at the road they traversed, journeying away from the subject of their conversation. "It's_ssss_ jus_ssss_t . . . we've compared our las_ssss_t few missions_ssss_, and they all have gone near or even along_ssss_side Team Raider's_ssss_."

She waved them off. "Coincidence."

"And we saw you sitting on the beach talking to him a couple of times," Toxi confessed, once again earning her leader's glower.

Her tone was as bitter as her breath was becoming in preparation of an Icy Wind. "Why were you guys spying on me?"

"We thought you were taking our relationship as a bad thing when you left . . . and then when I followed to apologize I saw you both there."

Her claws clenched in fury as she imagined the two snickering behind a bush. _Those were private conversations! They weren't supposed to be _watching_ me! Where's my respect? I'm their leader, dammit!_ For some reason, she felt they had stumbled upon some sort of secret she had had fun hiding, and that made her angry as hell. It had been nice talking to Rain, thinking they were the only two that knew about their meetings. _And what if Melody knows?_ For some reason, she didn't like that.

She pointed a curved claw at them in anger. "You both eavesdropped on my _private_ conversations with another _leader?_" Her voice had fallen so low and threatening in her Blizzard-strength wrath, it was as if she was a totally different Weavile.

"W-we watched!" The serpent looked frightened and nearly choked on his hissing, his tail shaking spastically. "We didn't lis_ss_ten!"

They had stopped at this point, just standing in the middle of the road where no one would be passing for half an hour at least. Almost ready to cause them incredible pain, she tried to control her anger as best as she could while at the same time thinking things through logically. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, feeling the sting of a half-formed Icy Wind pulled back down her throat. Finally, her eyes snapped open, making them visibly wince in fear, and her claw returned to point at them again.

"I see you two cannot trust me enough to let me lead you properly." Her tone was cold and indifferent, hiding her acid fury well except for the visible shaking in her shoulders. "If you would like to redeem yourselves by trusting me again, I'll be waiting at the base." She turned on her heel to retrace their steps the winding way they had just traveled, her pace swift as she refused to let herself listen to them or be tempted to look back. Although she wouldn't like to admit it, she was hurt by their actions, and until she felt like forgiving them she wasn't going to be a part of the team.

"W . . . wait!" She heard the Drapion's desperate pleas but did not turn her head or even acknowledge her presence. Soon, her shouts faded away to complete silence, and only after five minutes of it she did she dare to look behind her again.

The road looked empty.

It was only when she saw Treasure Town in the distance that she realized how long she had been walking, but even then she just took the next turn towards beach and continued onwards. Her feet were in excruciating pain from being abused, but she didn't care at the moment; walking helped work off the extra steam she had developed when given time to think about how angry she was.

There wasn't even words to describe how pissed she was. All thoughts were jumbled and distorted into images and sounds and half-formed ideas that couldn't take a real shape before they were smashed in her fury. The idea that they could _dare_ spy on her, when she took care not to pry into _their_ private matters–oh, it annoyed her to no end! She couldn't work with them now, definitely not, especially with her sudden urge to Icy Wind something. When she felt the pleasantly softer sand underfoot, that something became a poor innocent palm tree that exploded when the water inside of it froze so quickly.

"Those–those _bastards!_" She took a shard of the bark and threw it across the water, watching it flutter down before being sucked up by the waves. They were rough in low tide, seeming to perfectly fit her mood as she kicked the sand heatedly. "After all I do for them, and they just want to–want to _spy_ and _sneak behind my back_ and–_ugh!_" She tossed a poor coconut at another trunk, the fragments flying so fast they gave her a few scratches. She felt the need to destroy things, to create a sand castle before stomping it into nothingness, to completely annihilate something for no reason whatsoever. All of her security after their confession was shattered like the illusion it was–she couldn't even trust her own team anymore. There was so much anger and rage and hurt behind her actions, it was no wonder she didn't realize until too late that _he_ was there.

She had whirled around to break something else only to collide into him and feel his hands grab her shoulders firmly. Snarling, she tried to shove him away to no avail, and her eyes snapped up to burn holes into his. "Let go of me!"

He didn't drop her gaze. He ignored her order to instead ask determinedly, "What's wrong?" His voice was calm, soothing, and logical–everything she didn't want to hear right now. She was done with being calm, done being soothed, done with any and all logic. If anything, he made her angrier.

She wriggled out of his grip and stepped back, hissing, "Traitors!" Her eyes were narrowed almost to slits, causing her face to look scared and yet threatening at the same time. "The both of them! How _dare_ they?!"

Rain took a step forward but stopped when she backed away from him. "Who? What did they do?" He refused to let her funnel her anger into violence, and so she turned on him.

"_Bastards!_" She leapt forward, ready to hit him with a Dark Pulse point-blank, but he managed to dodge it in time. "They _dare_ spy on me?" She swung her claws only to have them deflected by his elbow-blades. "_Traitors! Betrayers!_" She gave a primitive growl and resorted to punching at him, her jabs getting quicker in succession as her rage increased. "Those–those _bastards!_"

In the end, he seemed to have switched tactics, instead letting her take her anger out on him as she punched and punched with nothing but brute force. She swung her fists until her arms grew tired, and then she threw herself forward and pummeled his chest until her hands were as sore as her feet. Exhausted, she gave one last pound before stumbling backwards into a palm tree, gripping it desperately to support herself. Leaning against it and panting heavily, she found her claws digging into the bark as she closed her eyes to stop them from watering. After all of that yelling, her voice could only just rise above a whisper now. "How? How could they?"

When she received no answer, she collapsed onto the sand, curling up into a ball and trying not to let her body quiver too much.

* * *

_Geez, it suddenly got sad fast, huh? I figured this is the perfect stopping point for now, seeing as how it's midnight and I am tired as frak. Imma go sleep now . . . zzzzzzzzz . . ._

* * *

Lots of dragon-y love (. . . zzzzzzz . . .),  
~DL ('Dragon Lover')


	2. Part Two

_You know, I don't think anyone else writes this pairing. If you do write Antiquityshipping, please tell me!_

_And here's Part Two! Enjoy!_

_. . . DAMMIT THIS WILL HAVE TO BE A THREESHOT. *headdesk* Sorry, guys! It's just too long!_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything of the Pokemon franchise–I only own the specific personalities for these characters, not their species.

**Rating**: T for language and violence. But, knowing me, that's nothing new, right?

* * *

The only thing Lady Weavile remembered was being lead by a strong hand on her shoulder into a house, and then she found herself standing before the scrutiny of Rain's teammates. The Rhyperior, Bobby, was the only one who didn't hate her guts–in fact, she looked rather satisfied that she was there. Melody, on the other hand, wasn't too happy about it. She looked as if she was going to throw both leaders out of the place. With Rain's persuasion, however, she left her alone in the guest room, only mumbling about thieves and locking away their valuables.

To be honest, the Sharp Claw Pokemon didn't much care what anyone thought at that moment; all she wanted was some peace and quiet so she could think. She had already explained the situation to him, so he left her alone with the offer of staying for as long as she needed, closing the door softly behind him. She walked over to the window and stared out of it, watching nature outside as she pondered what she was going to do. _I've already made up my mind to stay the night at least with them, but what should I do after that? Should I wait for them to apologize? I don't know how long that'll take, and as fun as it is to annoy that Roserade, I don't want to lose my feathers._

She had to figure out what exactly she wanted them to apologize _for_, though. They _did_ eavesdrop on her private conversation, of course, but when she thought about it she realized that she would have done the same thing herself. Frowning at the sudden realization, she placed her elbows on the windowsill and stared at the ground outside, lost in thought. Thinking back to her argument with them on the road to their mission, she tried to figure out at what point exactly she lost her temper.

"_And we saw you sitting on the beach talking to him a couple of times," Toxi confessed, once again earning her leader's glower._

_Her tone was as bitter as her breath was becoming in preparation of an Icy Wind. "Why were you guys spying on me?"_

"_We thought you were taking our relationship as a bad thing when you left . . . and then when I followed to apologize I saw you both there."_

She clenched her claws into fists at the reminder of her anger, but instead of flying into another blind rage she used her logic to coolly dissect her emotions and discern the source of it. Remaining detached as if analyzing a completely different person's thoughts, she rewound the mental tape to make sure she didn't miss anything. She had to be the level-headed leader like she always was, even if she was writhing in a frenzy of Fury Swipes and Dark Pulses on the inside.

_Her claws clenched in fury as she imagined the two snickering behind a bush. __**Those were private conversations! They weren't supposed to be **_**watching**_** me! Where's my respect? I'm their leader, dammit!**__ For some reason, she felt they had stumbled upon some sort of secret she had had fun hiding, and that made her angry as hell. It had been nice talking to Rain, thinking they were the only two that knew about their meetings. __**And what if Melody knows?**__ For some reason, she didn't like that._

She put aside the furious outer layer and delved deeper, scrutinizing every thought and image that had come to mind at the time. She decided that she wasn't exactly angry at their snooping–after all, it was what she would have done if in their positions–but more at their _questioning_. She didn't like the breach of her authority and security when they tried to wrench answers from her, and that's when she grew defensive and cold. With the root of the problem found, she tried to find a way to tackle the problem and wrestle a solution out of it. She would settle with an apology for questioning her, but if she had to tell them the problem then it would take a bit more before she forgave them. But they had to approach her first.

She spent much time deliberating on the subject, changing her mind and then going back to her original idea several times, until finally she settled on a plan and decided she was hungry. Back to the calm, cool and collected leader she was, Lady Weavile exited the room she had been in for two hours to find something to eat. Locating the kitchen with ease and searching the cabinets for a berry or two, she was interrupted when a feminine voice inquired with a chuckle, "Raiding our base, are you?"

She whirled around defensively only to meet Team Raiders' defense herself, and she lowered her claws to ask the Rhyperior, "I'm sorry, was I supposed to ask?"

"No, no, go ahead." Bobby waved a claw casually for her to continue. "You're our guest, so our food is your food." When she only received a frown, she sighed and offered, "I made sure Melody didn't poison the food." She looked satisfied at Lady Weavile's scowl before watching her rummage through their things, finding a Yache berry with a triumphant grunt before taking a bite out of its incredibly tough exterior. _I didn't think they liked these berries,_ she mused as she turned to face Bobby with an indifferent expression. _Then again, I didn't think they would eat plant-produced things, especially a Roserade. Isn't that cannibalism or something?_

"Are you friends with our leader?"

She stiffened slightly at the unexpected question, but she coolly replied, "As a matter of fact, I am. He didn't tell you?" Mentally she gave a sigh of relief that he hadn't told them about it, but she wouldn't let Bobby know that.

"No, he didn't." The Ground/Rock-Type crossed her arms with a thoughtful frown, showing she wanted to ask about the subject but was choosing to not dive into what wasn't her business.

For that, Lady Weavile instantly felt respect for her and relaxed under her gaze. The Rhyperior held an aura of experience and wisdom, and she surprised herself when she muttered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Uncrossing her arms, she gave a reassuring smile. "I could tell you needed some sort of comfort, and it wouldn't be right to interrogate you. I'm sure you're very defensive and guarded if you've left your team."

Although she wanted to ask when she had figured that out and how, Lady Weavile refrained from doing so as repayment for not asking. Taking a seat across from her, she took another bite of her berry and asked, "So, what's it like being a Master Ranked team?" It was purely for small talk, but at the same time she did wonder what was so amazing about it.

Bobby put her elbows onto the table with two soft _thunk_s and sighed. "To be honest, the only difference is the intensity of the jobs we get. I personally hate doing errand missions, but Rain doesn't like to not accept _any_ of them, so we're stuck doing them."

Lady Weavile smirked at her misfortune. "Sounds like it's not all that it's cracked up to be, huh?"

"Yeah, so don't get cocky when _you_ get there, okay?" A short chuckle was exchanged between them, and Team AWD's leader realized how at ease she felt with the Pokemon. _I can honestly say I'm closer to her than my own teammates, and I've only talked to her for a few minutes!_ "So," she brought her out of her thoughts, "what missions do _you_ despise?"

"Escort missions." They shared an aggravated groan at the thought. "I always seem to end up with the idiots."

"Or maybe the idiots are the only ones who need help?"

"True, true." She waved a claw as if to swat it away. "Personally, though, I'd appreciate it if they just met somewhere else. I mean, honestly, a _dungeon?_ Who'd want to meet up with "their true love" in a _dungeon?_"

"I don't know." The Rhyperior grinned. "Love makes you do some pretty crazy things."

Lady Weavile growled, "Tell me about it. My teammates started getting paranoid because they thought I wouldn't approve of their relationship."

"Really?" Despite having decided at first not to tell her, she felt after Bobby had kept her nose out of the matter that she was trustworthy enough to know. So, she explained all that had happened that day, all the way up to when Rain had led her to the base in a cold daze. Bobby nodded and commented at the proper times, and even hissed in sympathy as she explained the fate of a few poor trees. After she was done, the Drill Pokemon crossed her arms in thought, giving a small, "Hm."

Lady Weavile sighed, her mental and physical exhaustion finally taking its toll as it exuded from her voice. "Yeah . . . I just couldn't believe they'd do such a thing. I mean, would it really make that much of a difference? Being friends with another team?"

"Well," Bobby shifted to lean back in her chair (it was probably invincible if it could stand her weight), "to look at it one way, making such a bond could cut down your profits. After all, friends hang out and travel together or share jobs, and doing so would split payments and such."

"That would make sense . . . if we were the same ranks." The Dark/Ice-Type frowned and pointed out, "No offense, but if we were to be friends with you, it could only get better for us. Hell, you guys are _Master Rank!_"

"True . . ." She was quiet for a moment, seeming to mull it over, before suggesting another reason for their paranoia. "Maybe they were jealous, or afraid."

"What?" Lady Weavile scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Jealous? Afraid?"

"What would _you_ do if your leader was hanging out with someone else instead of you and your teammates?" When the weasel opened her mouth but couldn't find a response, Bobby continued. "What would _you_ do if you leader never brought up the subject, or would flirt with that other person constantly?"

She made an indignant noise. "I do _not_ flirt."

Bobby laughed. "Oh, really?" She fluttered her eyelashes and blew a kiss across the table, mocking, "_Good luck, darling!_" When Lady Weavile scowled at her impression of her, the Rhyperior grinned and asked, "See what I mean?"

"It's _taunting,_ not _flirting._"

"Then honey, he should be stuck to using damaging attacks for the rest of his life." After receiving a glare for the bad joke, she sobered a bit and went on, "But you can see where they misunderstood. They probably feel that he was taking you away from them, in a sense, and they ended up pushing you away with their fear."

"It's bloody stupid, if you ask me." She raked a claw through her headdress of feathers, giving a soft sigh. "Nobody's taking _me_ away. Not if I don't want to."

"That's the problem." Lady Weavile gave her a confused glance, but she only smiled and simply stopped her explanation there as she motioned at the berry in her other claw. "Are you going to finish that?"

She looked down at it, made a face, and took another bite as an answer. To be honest, all of this talking made her lose her appetite, but she didn't feel like wasting a good Yache berry anytime soon. _Sacrilege,_ she mentally joked.

* * *

"They still haven't come yet?"

Lady Weavile looked over her shoulder to see the Blade Pokemon walking across the guest room floor to stand beside her, and she returned her gaze to the window as she stared at nature surrounding the base. "No, they haven't." Then a sly grin appeared on her face as she taunted, "And shouldn't you know what happens in your headquarters?"

"It's not a headquarters," he responded instead. "It's more of a giant house."

"Right. Me and my teammates live in separate living arrangements, to avoid fights and . . ." She trailed off as she thought of them, wondering once more why they hadn't come yet and if they really cared about her, and finished lamely, "Stuff." She wasn't heartbroken or depressed because of their absence in caring, but she was slightly perturbed at the fact they hadn't tried to kiss up to her yet. Or at least, that was what she told herself–what her cold, calm logic told her. And it was never wrong.

He seemed to think otherwise, however, for he sighed and reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm sure they're just trying to think of what to say."

"I'm not worried," she replied, although a small part of her agreed that it was irksome to wonder about it. "I'm just annoyed."

"Sure you are."

She scowled, making him chuckle at her familiar sour behavior, and she decided to turn her attention to him instead of nature outside as she faced him curiously. "So, darling," her taunting (and completely not flirty) tone returned and made him tense up, "what are you going to do today? Go on a mission or two? Go watch your fangirls swooning and swaying at the sight of you?" She knew mentioning his fans would irk him, and she smirked victoriously as he gave her an irritated glance, his mouth curved down into a frown.

"Actually, no, I'm not. We're not, I mean–today I've decided to take a rain check on work and let my teammates restore their strength."

"You mean like a holiday?" He nodded. "Hm, that's not something I'd expect you to do, darling. Very unexpected, you know."

"Hey. Just because I like to do missions doesn't mean I don't like to relax, too."

"That's not what you _normally_ say, but _whatever._" She grinned. "I won't tell you how to run your team, even if mine's better."

He mirrored her expression and teased playfully, "And yet I'm the one with a Master Rank. Funny how that works." When he had succeeded in getting her to scowl again, he had his own triumphant grin before he cleared his throat and his expression turned serious once more. "Weavile, I have to ask you something." It was strange for anyone to call her just "Weavile," but she had found it even more bizarre to hear _him_ say it with "Lady". That was the only reason they were on more "informal" terms with each other when it came to names.

She waved a claw dismissively at his hesitance. "Go ahead, darling. Shoot."

"We're friends, right?"

"Well, duh." She rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "I wouldn't be hanging out here if I wasn't."

"And friends help each other out . . . right?"

"Yeah . . ." She frowned and motioned for him to continue.

"Well . . . I want to help _you_ out . . . with your teammates." When she looked about ready to protest at the suggestion, he quickly explained, "They've recently returned from the mission you left them to do but are utterly clueless on how to approach you. You aren't exactly . . . the warmest person they know."

"I'm part _Ice, _not _Fire._" She scowled in disgust at the term, hating the fire-breathing creatures for everything they were. Shaking away her ill feelings, she tilted her head curiously at him and asked, "You talked to them about it? Ah." She quickly shook her head before he could answer. _I need to stop being so paranoid._ "You know what, never mind. What exactly did you have in mind, then?"

"Maybe . . ." He hesitated, as if knowing she wouldn't like the idea. ". . . Maybe you could meet up with them several times to talk to them about it, before you actually decide to forgive them and return to the base. As in, you meet up somewhere, discuss a few things, and then leave and stay away from them until next time." He frowned. "Would you do that, at least? They're very, very worried about you."

She scoffed at his last sentence, waving it away with gritted teeth. "Alright, alright, fine, darling. But I won't make any promises."

He smiled and chuckled at her sour expression. "I knew you wouldn't."

"They may just piss me off more."

He shrugged. "What happens, happens."

* * *

Lady Weavile looked at her teammates shifting anxiously in their spots on the picnic blanket, an irritable scowl on her face. She was going to kill them for scheduling their fifth meeting early in the morning, making the location a bit out of town, and going out of the way to request Rain's absence (for the fifth time). _They're still suspicious, I see._ She clenched her knees with her claws, ignoring the burn of them to instead focus her attention on a speck of dirt on the blanket. She hadn't touched the basket of berries they had brought, even the Yache berries.

Corvax, after giving his girlfriend a nervous glance, started the conversation. "Good morning, Lady Weavile. And how have you been lately?"

Her response came from gritted teeth. "Pecha-y. And you two Luvdisc?" She never did like beating around the bush.

They blushed and looked away, anxiously shifting closer to each other for comfort. The sight of them made her sick–couldn't they stand on their own two feet . . . or whatever? There was a fine line between "teamwork" and "dependant" that they were walking on.

"It's_ssss _fine. Other than, of cours_ssss_e, your absence . . ."

"We miss you," Toxi finally blurted out, and then slapped her claw over her mouth as the Arbok beside her sighed. He seemed to have known she would have burst eventually, which actually wasn't surprising (she had trouble keeping her mouth shut). After an awkward amount of staring between the three of them, she continued softly, "Believe it or not, we miss you. You're our leader."

"Not right now," she replied bitterly, watching coldly as they both flinched at her callous reply. "I leader needs trust from her teammates–not paranoia."

"Actually," the Arbok surprisingly ventured, "we're not the _only_ ones_ssss_ to be paranoid . . . _you_ didn't like the thought of us_ssss_ following you. _You_ were paranoid firs_ssss_t."

"What? How?!"

"By not telling us_ssss_ about him."

"Corvax's right," the Drapion spoke up, not looking so shy anymore. "We would have understood if you'd told us, you know. It just . . . it makes us feel hurt that you didn't."

Lady Weavile closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried not to imagine their side of the story, but she couldn't help it when she saw it through their eyes–seeing them sneak off to laugh and chat together, keeping it a secret, not bothering to bring it up with her. Almost tearing off her kneecaps with her tense claws, she spoke evenly and quietly. "I know it might not have been right to not tell you, but I didn't think it was your right to know."

"It's not like we would have judged you!" The Ogre Scorp Pokemon waved a claw at her, a concerned frown on her face. "After all, _we_ got together without telling you."

"_We're not together._"

Toxi blinked, and then realized what she said and stammered, "Oh, I-I didn't mean it like that! Sorry, that came out wrong!"

Lady Weavile's mouth twitched, but she managed to refrain from grinning. "_Everything_ you say comes out wrong." She hoped they didn't catch her faintly humorous tone and think she was forgiving them. She was _far_ from that, but she could still laugh at their idiocy. Shaking her head, she opened her eyes to stare at them coolly. "Toxi, Corvax, I know you're both sorry. I know that. But I can't feel _true_ forgiveness unless . . . well," she sighed, "you both _trust_ me more. I can't lead you two through a dungeon without _trust_. If anything, this is more like protecting you from doubt than getting you to grovel at my feet, now."

Their eyes met her gaze with understanding dawning on their expressions, both nodding in agreement at her statement.

"Just have more trust in me. I'll return when you do."

* * *

"So, how'd it go?"

She sighed, placing her elbows on the windowsill as she stared at the nature outside. "I guess it went well. Neither of them are dead yet."

Rain chuckled at her response. "Well, that's always a good sign." Walking across the room to stand beside her like always, he watched her carefully. "Why do you look outside all of the time?"

"I like to imagine the world covered in snow," she admitted, her eyes roving the horizon as she conjured up a sea of white enveloping everything she could see. "The world is always so beautiful when completely white, especially under the moonlight."

"Hm. It's nighttime, but not winter. Too bad."

"Yeah, it really is." Letting herself daydream for a little more, she finally straightened and turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest as she returned the stare. "So, what'd you _really_ come here for, darling?"

He frowned at her, looking snubbed. "I'm checking in on you."

"And I'm sure it's not also to avoid Rose-a-bitch."

He shook his head, looking rather disappointed. "No, I'm not–actually, she's having a "girls' night out" or something with Bobby. Funny," he added as an afterthought, "I thought Bobby had told you about it."

"Oh, no, she didn't, but she probably knew that by the end of the night, two of us would be dead." She grinned when he rolled his eyes, something he hadn't started doing until she had become friends with him. "Besides, I'm not in the mood for gossip."

"And why not?"

"Because most of it involves me."

". . . ah." He bit his lip, looking regretful about something, but he waved it away as she looked at him curiously. "Well, it's always like that. Crazy, I mean."

As she traveled to the bed to lay down on it, she replied with a wink, "But they do make rather interesting stories." She settled down with a content sigh, putting her claws behind her head to prop it up so she didn't have to crane her neck to stare at him. He had a puzzled frown on his face and was staring at her as if she had said that female Gallade existed.

"What kind of stories, dare I ask?"

"_Well_," she smirked, enjoying his "uh-oh" grimace, "other than that whole "me and you secretly dating" thing, there's rumor going around that Corvax is having an affair with Bobby, or me depending on who's telling the story. There's also someone who thinks that Bobby and Rose-a-bitch have been plotting a way to kick me out of your house, or you and Bobby dropping her to be replaced by me, or even the odd tale that Wigglytuff is actually being mature for once."

". . . Interesting . . . ?"

"Oh, yeah, loads."

He frowned, soaking up the gossip like a sponge, and she watched merrily as he appeared to be caught in a confusing whirlwind of information. _Men don't seem to handle gossip well, it looks like._ Grinning like a Wynaut, she poked him verbally, "So, _darling,_ you're still here. Checking on me takes this long?"

He crossed his arms (mindful of his elbows, of course) and rolled his eyes. "When it involves _you_, it does." He sounded fairly annoyed instead of concerned like most people might be in this situation.

Lady Weavile touched her heart and mocked gratitude. "Oh, I'm _flattered,_ darling. It's really nice to know that you care." Smirking when he gave her an "okay-stop-it" look, she sat up and crossed her legs while propping herself up with her claws behind her. "Oh, you know you love my company."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here now, would I?" He frowned at her snickering and shook his head. "No matter how irritating and confusing you may be."

"Oh, it's all a part of the "Lady Weavile package"." Her smirk grew wider. "Lucky for you, I'm on sale."

"Do you go out of your way to do that?" His frown was deeper and troubled as he eyed her carefully, as if looking for some sort of trap. Being an explorer could make you rather paranoid, she realized. _And maybe that's where I got it from._

"Do what?"

"You–you sound like you're flirting, but I can never really tell with you."

". . . Really?" She finally mirrored his frown, trying to remember all she had said that night. Going over it, she realized that what she had considered teasing could easily be mistaken for flirtatious behavior. _Oops. At least now I know why everyone looks at us so weird._ Mentally scowling at the thought, she shook her head and told him, "Well, I didn't mean it that way. Taunting, you know?"

His frown didn't lessen, but his gaze slid away to the window she had been staring out of a few minutes earlier. She could have sworn that he looked a bit depressed about something, although what was beyond her.

"Oh. Weird that you don't do it consciously."

* * *

Since Rain was busy with paperwork and Melody was running other errands, Bobby decided to ask Lady Weavile to join her on shopping duty. Although at first reluctant, the leader of Team AWD had found a friend and confidant in the Rhyperior and really couldn't say "no" to her. That was the reason that she was tagging along behind Bobby while browsing the marketplace of Treasure Town, lugging the purse she had been handed to carry on her shoulder.

Lady Weavile's gaze flitted around the colorful stalls, eyeing the shiny things with approval and envy. "So, what are you shopping for, exactly?" She only asked to make small talk, since the silence between them made her a bit uneasy.

Bobby looked over her shoulder at the weasel, smiling a little, and then returning her attention in front of her as she replied, "Just a few staples for the mission coming up. You know, like Apples and–"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved a claw dismissively, even though she wouldn't see it. "I get it." Helping her pick out the finest gear from the stingy Kecleon brothers, she remained silent for the half-hour that it took for them to collect everything needed, and it remained undisturbed as they began to take the path back to Team Raiders' base. She was going to break it before she caught a glimpse of two familiar purple figures in the distance.

Toxi and Corvax.

She gritted her teeth at the sight of them and was about to turn around when she saw a look of recognition cross the Drapion's face, and she motioned to her boyfriend and suggested something before turning back the other way and going on ahead of them. The Dark/Ice-Type was stunned as Corvax gave her a nod, his face warm with acceptance and understanding as he followed the Ogre Scorp Pokemon, letting her walk alongside Bobby without hindrance. Her jaw nearly dropped in amazement.

_They . . . they're not going to bother me._

The entire misunderstanding had occurred when her teammates had stepped over the boundaries and tried to question her motives, and now they were fixing it by letting her do what she wanted without doubting her. They could have walked up to them, simply to say "hi", but they knew she wouldn't like that and so just avoided them altogether. What may seem like a sign of nervousness to approach her to some came across as them accepting her leadership in her eyes.

She felt a warmth bloom in her soul at the thought of them letting her be, but she quickly smashed it with an iron fist as she shook the idea out of her head. Ignoring Bobby's curious glance, the Sharp Claw Pokemon sped up the pace a bit to walk beside her. She felt a lot more confident, and she was sure she was ready for anything.

"Lady Weavile?"

She grunted off-handedly, "Yeah?" She was too busy imagining her triumphing over a pathetic Charmeleon with ease to be bothered by the Rhyperior.

"Do you like Rain?"

She nearly tripped and ate the path.

* * *

_Whoa, cliffhanger! *waits to be mauled* Review and tell me what you think of it so far! And I promise, promise, PROMISE the next part will be the last! I swear! If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning! (Which won't hurt since my avvie's now a Raichu, making me one, but still.)_

* * *

Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),  
~DL ('Dragon Lover')


	3. Part Three

_Warning, this is a lot longer than the other two parts. I didn't want to make this a four-part story, so we both (me and the readers) have to deal with the length. Sorry!_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything of the Pokemon franchise–I only own the specific personalities for these characters, not their species. (Boy, haven't done one of these in a while!)

**Disclaimer 2:** I also do not own the song "You Belong to Me" by Jason Wade. I only used the tune and set-up to create a PMD-version of the song, "I Need You with Me".

**Rating**: T for language and violence. But, knowing me, that's nothing new, right?

* * *

Melody stepped through the threshold of the house with a relieved sigh, glad to finally be done running around and doing odd jobs around Treasure Town. Sometimes it sucked being Master Rank, and this was why–everyone depended on you. It was no wonder that Rain was so uptight about it and left no room for errors or mistakes on their missions. "With great power comes great responsibility," some old student of the Guild had once quoted. _And it's no freakin' surprise that _I_ get stuck with the crazy jobs._ She gave a huff as she made her way to her room. _Now it's time to relax and_–

Suddenly, she froze in her tracks, her eyes unfocused as she strained to listen.

_. . . What's that? It sounds . . ._ Her heart sped up at the possibility, but she quickly dashed it away before it could be disappointed and went to go figure out what it really was. As she went down the hallway, however, it grew clearer and clearer, and her hope sprung up again before she poked her head around the corner for a peek.

_Oh Mew, it _is_ . . ._

Rain was singing to himself.

That only happened when he was extremely happy, i.e. easy jobs that paid well (delivering goods was a necessary evil) or a big payment that had just come in the mail. Feeling giddy, she was about to jump out and ask him what the big deal was before she stopped and actually _listened_ to him. What she heard nearly made her jaw drop to the floor.

"_See the mist low in the morning air._" He placed a book back on the shelf where it belonged, and lopsided grin on his face. "_Listen to the nomad breeze's prayer. I promise I will always care . . . I need you with me_ _. . ._" He adjusted another novel before giving a wistful sigh, his gaze glossy with reminiscing as he stared absentmindedly at the wall. "_And life is so cold without you . . . and maybe you can feel it, too . . ._"

_He's singing_ that? The song had been voted number one five weeks in a row and was one of the most popular soft and romantic songs in Treasure Town–and hearing him sing it was enjoyable and confusing at the same time. When he did sing, it'd normally be an old tune or the melody of an orchestra, not a popular hit. _Why would he sing _that_ song? He's always said he loved classical music more . . . unless . . ._

She furrowed her eyebrows at the absurd thought.

_Oh, no. No, no, no, no, _no._ That can't be it. It's crazy! Hell, he turned me down in a split second, so how in the world could he possibly be in_ . . .

"_Keep on traveling through the glen. Close your eyes, and count to ten._" He paused in his organizing to stand at the windowsill, staring out at Arceus knows what as he was silent for a little while. Melody felt a bit guilty for spying on him, but now that she knew _what_ he was singing, she _had_ to find out what was causing him to do so. She watched as he slowly placed his elbows on the windowsill, leaning against it as he sighed heavily, looking rather strange in such a casual pose. "_And when they're open, you'll be home again . . . I need you with me._"

_No. Way._ She examined his stance, the exact same pose the weasel that now inhabited their house was always in. _This can't be happening!_

_Rain's in _love–_with _her?!

He didn't notice her tiptoe back down the hall and out the front door–no, for once he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to have noticed her at all. He ran his hand over his head (much like a troubled man would run his hand through his hair) with an anxious sigh, trying to force the tune out that had gotten stuck in his head, but it was no good–it was there, and it didn't seem likely to be leaving just yet. Feeling perturbed that such a thing would happen to him, he stood up straight and tried to trick himself into not believing it, or to focus his thoughts on something else.

Weavile's face appeared in his mind's eye.

_Dammit, that's not what I wanted to happen._ He frowned and shook his head, but she stayed there, taunting and teasing him like always. Even the figment of his imagination made his life hell. Trying to bat the thought away like one would an annoying bug, he walked back over to the desk and attempted to finish what he had started. But she interrupted him again, and he irritably set the mug of coffee down roughly only to splash some of the papers, forever staining them brown. Sighing in defeat, he cleaned them as properly as he could, his mind drifting away in memories.

"_My, I think the little knight's bushed! You're not in shape, darling. You should work out more."_

Such taunting was always expected of her, and it did its job in irritating him and causing him to use a move he knew would hurt her badly. Although he didn't normally like to attack anyone that wasn't in a dungeon, he decided to make an exception since she was attacking him. He had followed her in hopes of "bringing her to justice" after she had "stolen" his team's treasure; he now realized he didn't have a proper reason to accuse her, after listening to her explanation afterwards.

"_You stress out too much. That's not good for your health. Sometimes, you should let bygones be bygones and just go with the flow. Exploring was made to be an adventure, a journey filled with fun and surprises! To make it a duty and all serious . . . that's not what it was made for; that's like a grappling hook having a short reach, it just destroys the purpose."_

Her bit of insight was interesting enough, although he didn't agree with it completely, and it had convinced him to be a bit more lenient with missions that didn't concern somebody's safety. Delivery and exploring missions suddenly seemed a lot simpler, and he found he could finally relax and lose his normal tension. He knew his teammates noticed the change in his behavior but were unsure if they knew the cause.

"_Your feathers, they always seemed out of place for a creature that doesn't fly."_

"_And the fin on your head seems out of place for a creature that isn't a Sharpedo."_

"_. . . touché."_

She had a sharp tongue and a quick-witted response for every situation, it seemed–it was here that Rain finally began to take interest in the leader of Team AWD. Expecting a simple explanation since that was the norm in his life, he hadn't predicted her reply and had been stunned into near speechlessness. He could barely mutter a word to that, staying quiet for a good amount of time after that until they camped out for the night.

""_Looks, of course"? You're almost more conceited than I am! And, trust me, darling, that's hard to achieve."_

"_Oh, I could never hope to surpass you. You're way out of my league."_

He hadn't meant to sound arrogant, but he understood where she had gotten the notion from. He knew that many of the girls around Treasure Town gossiped about him and whatnot (Bobby kept him updated), and many had said he was cute or handsome. He didn't want to be seen as a conceited guy, though, as it was so controversial to his real self.

"_You know, you weren't nearly this much fun when we were lost."_

"_I guess we can only handle each other in small doses."_

And he was right, at first; they only hung out for half an hour at the most, and those tiny breaks helped ease his muscles and worries and focus on what was important to him–the missions. He had thought that prolonged "exposure", however, was "unhealthy" and would irritate him to no end. When she came to hang out at their house, however, he learned that she was bearable when she wanted to be.

"_How? How could they?"_

To be honest, he had been torn at the sight of her personal defeat, unable to decide whether to try to comfort her or to just remain silent. In the end, he had chosen neither, instead helping her to her feet and taking her to his home to cool down a bit. This was around the time he had started to call her simply "Weavile". He had been surprised when she stayed longer–now it had been nearly a month and she still was in the guest room. He didn't think that her quarrel with her teammates was that serious, and that only strengthened his resolve to help her in any way he could.

"_Don't worry, I'm sure they're just trying to think of what to say."_

"_I'm not worried. I'm just annoyed."_

"_Sure you are."_

He couldn't imagine her being not even a bit bothered by it all, even with her tough exterior. They were her partners, her _friends_ even, and they had betrayed her trust and caused her to doubt her leadership skills. He wanted to be angry at them but couldn't because he could understand their case, and he was sure that Weavile could as well.

"_You aren't exactly . . . the warmest person they know."_

"_I'm part __**Ice**__, not __**Fire**__."_

Indeed, she wasn't the kindest and most loving Pokemon in the world; she'd sooner tease and taunt you then cheer you up, and she held next to no sympathy for anyone other than herself. And she wasn't the most open and understanding of them all–it was either her way or the highway as far as she was concerned–making her teammates' hesitation all the more understandable. At the same time, though, she was their leader, and she'd never do anything to harm them if she could help it.

"_Oh, you know you love my company."_

"_If I didn't, I wouldn't be here now, would I? No matter how irritating and confusing you may be."_

"_Oh, it's all a part of the "Lady Weavile package". Lucky for you, I'm on sale."_

He still didn't get this about her–the taunting. Now, he wasn't an expert on women, but he was pretty sure that having one say she was "on sale" was supposed to be _some_ type of flirting. Whenever she got like that, he wasn't sure if she was serious or not, and he always ended up thinking thoughts he'd rather not have (i.e. whether he really _wanted _her to flirt with him). He hadn't meant to ask her about it, but the question just sort of popped out, and then . . .

"_Well, I didn't mean it that way. Taunting, you know?"_

This flat out stumped him. _How can you flirt without meaning to flirt? Is it subconscious?_ That just opened up a bunch of possibilities that frightened him even more, and he shut down every idea that sprung from it to keep his sanity. _And her answer's been driving me crazy, too. I . . . I hate to admit it, but I _want_ her to do it on purpose. Otherwise, that's like sticking your hand in a fire not expecting to be burned. And, to be frank, it's a bit odd for her to flirt when she's not fawning all over–_

An incredible thought popped up, abruptly derailing his train of thought.

_She doesn't fawn over me._

That's what did it! That was why he was so fascinated with her different and loudly spoken opinions; he was interested in the only girl he knew that wasn't a part of his fan club. She hung out with him without crowding or suffocating him, and she let him have his space while he did the same to her. They kept everything casual, and any tension that either of them had eased away while they hung out together. He _liked_ hanging out with her because of that, and as a result–

He liked _her_.

He really, truly _liked her_.

His eyes widened at the realization, and he muttered something rather out-of-character for him.

". . . _shit._"

* * *

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Lady Weavile took a claw as if to clean out an ear, mumbling, "I could have _sworn_ that you asked me–"

"No, I did ask you that." The Rhyperior stayed calm as her friend stared at her in confusion, going on, "And I'm asking because it's pretty obvious that he likes you."

"_What?_" The weasel stared at her incredibly. "You've got to be joking. You can't _possibly_ think that–"

"Oh, I can. And I am." Bobby sighed as she continued to receive a confused glare. "Look, I know you don't believe me–"

"Hell no, I don't!" She crossed her arms with a scoff, growling, "What the hell makes you think that I like him, _or_, for that matter, that _he_ likes _me?_"

A grin erupted on the Drill Pokemon's face, and she suddenly started to sing an annoyingly familiar song a little bit off-key. "_See the road stretch for another mile. See the moon and how it seems to smile. Just remember darling, all the while, I need you with me._" After enjoying the weasel's groan, she explained, "My leader has been singing that song to himself since last night, and I think I know why. He's in love."

Lady Weavile blinked.

"With me?"

A nod.

"You're joking, right?"

A shake of the head.

"Oh, come on . . ."

"I'm serious, you know." Her grin disappeared to be replaced by a thin frown. "And it's plain as day that he's bothered by it, too. He can't stop thinking about you, you know."

"And how the hell do–"

""_Wow, the snow _is_ beautiful." "We should probably hurry back, you know . . ." "Leave her alone, Melody, she hasn't done anything to you." "I don't want to kick her out! Just a little longer!"_" A smile flitted across her face for a moment at the weasel's obvious frustration.

"And that means he likes me _how?_"

"Honey," she sighed, "you don't understand. He's _never_ shown this much interest and concern towards _anyone_. If you had been anyone else, he would have returned you to your team and forced you to make-up then and there. But he cares about you, and that's why he's let you stay with us and slowly piece your teams' bond back together." She nodded sagely. "He loves you a lot."

"Oh, this is just ridic–"

"_Hey!_"

They both frowned in confusion, and Bobby turned to examine the livid Roserade stomping towards them, her green cape whipping about in her hurry. "Melody? What're you . . ."

They were shocked when she continued getting closer until she got into Lady Weavile's face, and she spat, "_What_ have you _done_ to Rain?!"

The Rhyperior blinked. "She did something?"

"Yeah! He's been singing that damn song, and I _know_ she's had something to do with it! He only likes classical music, not country or pop or whatever!" She poked a bouquet in Lady Weavile's face accusingly. "What, did you use _Attract_ or _Captivate_ or something? Or maybe a Confuse Ray, since you're such a bitch that I doubt he would _ever–_"

"Alright," Bobby pushed them apart with her strong arms, "I think that's quite enough. Melody, you have no right to start pointing fingers and–"

"But she _has_ to have done something!" She turned to the Rhyperior, her expression now desperate. "He rejected _me_ so quickly, and yet as soon as _she_ came into the picture . . . !"

Lady Weavile had been silent and wide-eyed the entire time, her expression blank with bewilderment at the Bouquet Pokemon's confession. She couldn't believe what was happening to her, after all of the trouble she had gone through to _avoid_ things like this. Her plan was crashing down all around her. And she had placed each brick in the wall around her so meticulously . . .

Bobby took one look at her face and burst into a merry grin. "I told you so!"

* * *

Her ears perked up at a creak in the distance, alert for anyone's presence in the empty house. She stayed like that, back straight and muscles tense, until five minutes had passed and she was absolutely sure that no one was there. She was still anxious, however, as was obvious by her pacing around the guest room like she was waiting to visit a friend in the hospital. She was trying to think calmly, clearly, logically, like she did as a leader on missions–but even at what she normally did best, she was failing.

That was why she was pacing.

"Come on, Weavile, get a grip." Turn. "It's obvious that this is all just a misunderstanding–" Turn. "–stemming from your tendency to sound like you're flirting." Turn. "No biggie, that can be fixed–just sound uninterested–" Turn. "–and _bam!_ Problem solved!" Stop, sigh. "No, it can't. Dammit, I don't normally lie to myself . . ."

_Or maybe I just don't notice it before._

_Stop it!_ Her cool, logical side, barely hanging onto the edges of her mind, reprimanded her doubts rather quickly. _Come on, you're _Weavile!_ You're always right! There's no way that this can all be true, there's just no way._

_Oh, stop kidding yourself._ (_Wow, that's weird, I don't normally have voices in my head._) _It's real, and it's happening to _you_. Can't _flirt_ your way out of this one._

_It was taunting!_

_It was flirting, and you know it!_ If she imagined really hard, she could see a mirror image of herself crossing her arms and scoffing. _You've _always_ known that you were flirting, but you just didn't want to admit that you might actually _like_ somebody!_

Growling at her ridiculousness, she tried to ignore the voices and continued pacing.

"Alright, keep talking to myself." Turn. "It's not as bad out loud as it is in my head." Turn. "And it helps me to stop thinking about hi– _it_." Turn. "I meant "it", not "him". Psh, never _him._" Turn. "Why would I be thinking about him? Crazy." Turn, stop. "_Dammit_, I'm thinking about him." As she scowled at herself and tried to beat her mind into a pulp, the two voices in her head continued their argument where they had left off.

_That's not true!_ Logic-Vile shook her head vigorously. (_Oh Arceus, I've named them now. I'm officially insane._)

_Is, too!_ Arceus, they–_she_ was starting to sound like a little kid–the voices were–oh, whatever. She gave up on trying to make sense.

_I don't like him! I'm not about to dissolve in some romantic mush like my teammates and lose all common sense._

_Ah, exactly my point._ Moral-Vile crossed her legs and looked at the other triumphantly. _You think that being in love makes you weak or stupid, when in fact it doesn't. And no, it's not a waste of time, either._ She nodded in agreement to her own words. _You're just afraid of getting hurt._

Lady Weavile quickly shook the images from her head before she went completely bonkers, growling, "Okay, I am _not_ scared."

_Thunk, thunk._

"Scared of what?"

She started at the sudden interruption of her solitude (and insanity) and whirled around to see the exact person that had been on her mind for the past five days, standing expectantly after crawling through the open window (the noises were his feet hitting the wooden floors). Her mind went blank except for one thought:

_Oh, shit, I'm scared._

She stood frozen there for a moment as he stared at her curiously, but then she quickly shook the nervousness away and scowled at him. "Ever heard of a _door?_"

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I just sort of ran ahead of the others and didn't have time to open doors. Besides," something close to a smirk appeared on his face, "it's only the first floor."

She avoided his gaze as she suddenly felt uncomfortable there with him, after all of the thinking she had put herself through in his absence. She had been barely able to deal with it when he _wasn't_ there, so how was she going to survive now? Thinking about his concerned face, or him offering to help her make-up with her teammates, or assisting her to his house was the last thing she needed–_oh now she was thinking about it._ Mew damn it all. She really hated her logic-free mind.

She heard him take a step towards her, and she quickly asked him before he could get closer, "What do you want?" She didn't want him to be too close, in case he was lying about being able to read minds with his Psychic powers. _Oh, that's the _very last_ thing that I need._

He stopped. "Why do I always have to want something?" (He was probably frowning at her accusation, too–_agh, stop thinking about him._)

She shrugged, staring at the closed door. _We're alone . . . too much privacy._ "I don't know . . . but do you?" She barely glanced at him to see a curious and puzzled expression on his face, but she promptly turned around before he could meet her gaze and lied down to face away from him. She didn't want to be that obvious, but she just couldn't stand to see him _at all_ right now. He was too . . . _distracting._ She wanted to dissect his expression to try to read his thoughts, but at the same time she was afraid to know.

"Well, I didn't." Well, that was reassuring. _And now he does?_ He remained where he was, to her relief, but he questioned her from afar. "Now, what're you scared of?"

She gritted her teeth. _Cool calm logic, cool calm logic . . ._ Her usual mantra wasn't working. "I'm not _scared_ of _anything._" She could tell he was rolling his eyes, and a fleeting smirk found its way onto her face before she dropped it like a hot potato.

"It didn't sound like it."

"Alright, fine, I'm terribly frightened of tornadoes."

He sighed, sounding exasperated. "Whatever. Look, Weavile, I came here early to talk to you about something."

_Oh, shit. Not now!_

She slowly sat up to face him, refusing to look like a cowering idiot, and put on a mischievous smirk. "About what, darling? _Agh._" She slapped her forehead and ignored his confused look as she motioned at him to continue. "About what?"

"Err . . . well . . ." He cleared his throat, suddenly looking nervous (which didn't reassure her). "I guess I've missed you . . ."

"What, me and my teasing?" _And flirting,_ she added with a mental grimace. "I think you have a fever, dar– Rain."

He frowned, looking at her curiously as whatever he was about to say was forgotten. "Are _you_ alright? You're a bit strange today . . ."

"Fine, fine, just been driven crazy in an empty house, you know, too much pacing and talking to myself." She mentally scowled at her babbling, wanting to throw herself out of the window before remembering that it was only the first story. At his odd look, she waved away his concern, telling him, "I'm okay, really, just–just say what you were going to say, da– _Rain._" _Mew dammit, this is hard. Do I really do all of this subconsciously? It may be worse than I thought–I may be too far gone to be saved._

He ignored her, instead walking forward and placing the back of his hand on her forehead to investigate. "Hm, you're pretty h– _warm._" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Your forehead's pretty warm. Are you sure you don't have a fever or something?"

"Oh, stop worrying like a mother Chansey," she told him as she brushed his hand away. "And wasn't there something you needed to talk about?" _Please, tell me quickly, so you can back away from me and stop staring at me like I'm going to drop dead any moment._

He avoided her gaze. "It's not important, not if you're sick. Here, I'll go get you something."

"I'm _not_–ugh." She scowled as he walked out of the room, wanting to pummel him for being so concerned. It was very irritating, especially since nothing was wrong until he started getting worried (giving her a headache).

_Oh, come on._ Moral-Vile elbowed her, a mischievous grin on her face. _You like it. Admit it._

"I'm going to kill you–me–_him._" She shook her head, trying to keep her indifferent façade on. "I'm going to kill _him._"

Logic-Vile snorted. _That won't help anything._

"You shut up."

He returned with a washcloth and some hot tea, and while she took the mug she pushed his hand away, telling him firmly, "Really, I'm _fine._" She didn't want him to be worried, because then she had a weird stomach-clenching feeling that was unfamiliar and painful and she grew a blush on her face. Of course, she didn't want that–that didn't fit her image as Lady Weavile, leader of Team AWD. _Calm cool logic . . ._

He seemed about ready to force it onto her forehead, but instead he bit his lip and lowered his hand, holding the cloth awkwardly. She focused her attention on the cup to avoid looking at his face, desperately wanting something to happen to distract him so she could make her escape with him noticing. Her wish didn't come true, however.

"Are you feeling alright? Seriously?"

_I'm going to kill Jirachi–he sucks at granting wishes._ As she plotted an elaborate scheme to do so, she stared at Rain silently to try to get her message across: Yes, I'm fine, now stop asking and leave. He only got the "stop asking" part, though, because he became even more worried, and she desperately thought of something to change the subject.

"So, what was it you wanted to ask?"

_Oops, wait, that's . . . oh, whatever. I don't care anymore._

At the blank look on his face, she sighed. "Anything? At all? You ran here early to ask it?" When he finally seemed to recognize what she was talking about but suddenly looked away with a red face, she groaned and muttered, "Aw, hell." It just sort of slipped out, but she had already lost her calm and cool façade a few days ago. No point in trying to keep it up now.

He looked at her, still blushing but frowning in confusion at her remark. "What are you . . . ?"

She sighed and stood up, ready to face her demons and get this over with. "Alright, look, Rain. Your Rhyperior friend let the Skitty out of the bag, and I feel that I've mislead you to believe that I've been flirting with you because I lo– like you in some way. Which I don't." She cleared her throat. "No, I do _not_ like you." The two Vile in her head laughed at her pathetic attempt to pull herself together, and she batted a claw at their mental images and growled, "Oh, both of you shut up. You're not helping."

". . . Weavile?"

She coughed. "Right, sorry. The voices . . . Arceus, I'm insane. Calm cool logic, calm cool logic . . . agh, it's not working anymore!" She smacked her forehead with her palm, as if that would help anymore, but that only made her headache worse. "Mew dammit, I need help. I've driven myself insane in this house.

"_Anyways,_ as I was saying, I don't . . . like you. No, I haven't meant to make it sound like I was flirting, since I'm _not_ a sissy fangirls of yours." She stood a bit straighter, puffing out her chest as if trying to seem arrogant. "I'm much too good to stoop that low, and I don't want you to think that I was." After a moment, though, she waved her claws frantically and spluttered, "Not that I care what you think or . . . or anything. No, it's purely for my benefit, because I'm selfish and cold and . . . stuff."

He remained silent, blinking occasionally with a stunned look on his face.

She sighed. "Dammit, this sounded a lot better in my head."

He continued to look lost, a puzzled frown looking permanently glued to his face. (She almost laughed at the thought of that, but that would have only confirmed her insanity.) "Wait, Weavile, what are you . . . where'd this come from?"

"Well, I–" She stopped and cleared her throat, trying to keep her composure. "Calm cool logic . . . well, Bobby took me out shopping that one day, remember? Right before your little mission?" At his nod to verify he remembered, she went on. "She decided to calmly drop the bomb about you apparently "liking me", and I highly doubted it because she's crazy like that–" She made a gesture to emphasize the thought. "That is, until Melody came up and started to harass me, saying I had bewitched you or something–"

"She harassed you?"

"Yes–_that's not the point. _Forget I said that." She shook her head, sighing at his protectiveness. "Anyways, she was all mad because she heard you singing that one song and–"

His face grew red.

"Oh, Arceus. Rain . . . please tell me she was lying." When he only looked away, her eyes widened and her tone grew a bit more panicky. "Rain . . . Rain, you're not answering me. Hey, darling, ans– _dammit!_" She smacked her forehead. "Gah, I can't stop it!"

"It's true," he mumbled. "I was singing that to myself. After hearing Bobby hum the tune a little while ago, it got stuck in my head, and . . ." His mouth hung open as she waited for him to finish, but he only sighed and ran his hand over head as he suddenly got a pensive frown on his face.

". . . to be honest," she spoke up, her voice strangely quiet as she stared at her feet, "I hadn't thought about it at all, not seriously, until you all left." Almost leaving it at that, she sighed and crossed her arms, picking her head up to meet his gaze. "You're not the only one to get that song stuck in your head. It's really annoying, too, because it fits so well with us explorers and . . ."

"And it shows a sort of devotion we can only envy," he added, voice just as quiet.

"Yeah."

They were silent after that, an awkward tension in the air making her wish she could travel back in time before it all started–back to when they would just sit on the beach and talk about simple things, before they became attached in the oddest way. Before they started to get closer, when they didn't need to become involved in the others' problems. Before he cared about her and she cared about what he thought about her.

Before . . . all of _this_ happened.

* * *

They avoided talking about it afterwards (especially since Bobby and Melody had picked the most inopportune time to arrive, much to their delight and dismay) and even avoided each other for a time. His teammates noticed, and while the Roserade was beyond pleased with the new development, the defense of the team wasn't so happy about it. She tried to talk to both of them, but neither wanted to start a conversation; Lady Weavile simply sat in silence in her room or in the kitchen, and Rain didn't even bother giving them orders during their missions.

It was starting to worry her.

She finally approached her leader as he filled out paperwork, something he had been doing more frequently with the time he used to devote to "bothering" Lady Weavile, and shut the door to earn his attention. He took a moment to finish signing something before placing the pen down and glancing up at her, a blank expression dominating his face. She examined him for a second, trying to find the source of his strange behavior, but eventually cleared her throat and spoke up.

"You're not talking to her."

He didn't grace her with a response, instead picking the pen back up and continuing with what he was doing. A bit annoyed but deciding not to yell at him, the Rhyperior stepped to his desk and sat in the chair before it, eyeing him closely. His scarlet eyes flickered over the words rather quickly, barely absorbing the information before writing a quick response and moving on to the next one. The corners of his mouth twitched occasionally, either creeping up or dropping down to show his support or disapproval to whatever was on the paper. He seemed to be trying to keep his mind off of something.

She had a feeling she knew what–or, rather, _who_–it was.

"Rain, don't try to ignore me." Her tone was motherly, firm but caring at the same time. "I can tell when you're having problems, and this one's the size of a Wailord."

His hand paused in its repetitious motions, and he seemed to be pondering whether to do something or not. He eventually made his choice and put the pen down again, picking his chin up to stare at her with a mask of indifference on. She knew him better than that, though, and put her elbows on his desk, smiling at the creak her movement made and the slight frown that appeared on his face. She knew he hated when she did that.

"Ignoring or avoiding your problems isn't going to make them go away," she advised him. "Ignoring a wound doesn't stop it from bleeding, does it? And poison doesn't disappear if you don't think about it." Pausing to let him insert his opinion, she went on when he didn't. "And it's not making happy campers out of either of you."

"Did she–" He quickly caught himself, but it was too late; Bobby was smiling at his curiosity, and he grimaced and crossed his arms in a pout. She could always get the best of him.

"No," she finally told him, "she hasn't said anything about it. But I can tell, from both of you and your behaviors, that it's making you miserable. Why don't you just try to talk again? I've never seen you so shy to talk to a girl before."

He tried to glare at her, failed, and then just sighed and looked away.

"Ah, right, but this isn't just _any_ girl, now is it?" His silence was confirmation enough. "Because of that, though, it makes it even more important for you to talk to her. If you don't . . ." She shrugged, finally taking her elbows off of the desk to cross her arms over her chest. "Well, she'll slip away for good."

He glanced at her expression, as if waiting for her to tease him, but when she didn't do so he looked out the window and sighed again. "That's what she wants . . ."

Glad that he was finally starting to talk, she worked on getting him to open his eyes. "Or that's what she wants you to _think_." When his head swiveled to look at her in surprise, she grinned at his sudden interest in her words. "Think about it. She's seen her two partners pair up and make some stupid decisions, destroy her trust in them and cause the break-up of her team. Now, if that's what happens to people in the same team, imagine what could happen between the leaders of two _different_ ones." His eyes swirled with contemplation, understanding brightening the dull gleam they had before.

He eventually frowned, something she wasn't glad to see. "But . . ." Pausing to think carefully about his words, he finally asked her, "What if she doesn't listen to me?"

She shrugged. "I wish I could give you a sure answer, but that's just it–life is never certain." Her eyes twinkled merrily, and she reached a claw over to gently pat his shoulder. "But, it's all worth it in the end. _She's_ worth it. Right?"

After a moment of silent deliberation, determination fired up in his eyes as he patted her encouraging claw. "Yes. She is." Then, he jumped out of his seat and sprinted across the room, slamming the door open as he rushed down the hallway towards the guest room. Bobby smiled and leaned back, a triumphant grin on her face, before falling backwards and colliding with the ground with a large _thump!_ She groaned.

"Dammit, I need to go on a diet."

Rain hurried down the hall and around the corner, having to dodge to the side to avoid running into the Roserade making her way to the kitchen. Melody gasped and fell onto her behind in surprise, but he couldn't stop to assist her. He _had_ to talk to Weavile. Now. He felt a bit guilty for leaving her there, but he made a note to make it up to her somehow–later.

He skidded around another corner and had to grab onto the doorknob to avoid flying past her door, and he threw it open to see her with a foot out the window. His sudden entrance surprised her and caused her to lose her balance, but with his adrenaline still pumping after the frantic dash to her room he leapt across and grabbed her arm to prevent her falling. Such an elaborate rescue wasn't really needed, considering the place was only one floor, but it was more of a way to keep her from escaping.

She looked up at him to no doubt give a sharp retort, but something in her demeanor changed and caused her to bite her lip anxiously. As he pulled her back into the room, she muttered without her usual acid tone, "You know, you have the worst timing ever."

"Haven't I always?" Memories of such events threatened to distract him from his purpose, but he quickly shook them away to focus on her. He told her, "Look, I have to talk to you. It's important."

"Oh, no." She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "Not _this_ again."

"No, no, listen to me, please." He didn't go to grab her arm again, but his urgent tone effectively had the same result. As she looked up at him expectantly, he cleared his throat and kept his confidence from plunging. _It's now or never, Rain._ "I know the thought of being in a relationship isn't exactly ideal right now. Being the leaders of our teams doesn't help much, either."

She crossed her arms, looking ready to protest, but something made her bite her tongue, and he was grateful. Her intelligence and sharp tongue always seemed to shoot his ideas down with ease.

"And your teammates and my fans probably don't set very stable examples about couples." He brought his hands up to rest them on her shoulders, keeping her full attention on his words. "But they're not _us._ Just because it happens to them doesn't mean it's the same for everyone. We're _different_ from them."

"But . . ." Something in her thoughts seemed to be agreeing with him, but she shook her head and tried to argue anyways. "Even though that's true, what makes you think this would work, huh? We argue, we have totally different opinions, and we're going to be busy with our own teams most of the time–if I get back with mine, that is."

He shook his head. "We were able to be _friends_ and leaders at the same time. Why couldn't we be a _couple_ instead?"

"Because–it's totally different!" She had to glance away from his intent gaze, down at her feet as she muttered, "Being together means . . . completely trusting each other, able to sacrifice for the other, and . . . what if we're not able to do that?"

"I trust you." He squeezed her shoulders to assure her. "I trust you more than I trust my teammates. I've told you things I haven't told them, and I wouldn't care if they hated me for . . ." He took a deep breath. "For loving you."

She tensed at those words, her eyes widening a fraction.

He silently gulped. "Yes, that's right. I _love_ you. Before, when I ran back from the mission, I only knew I liked you a great deal. But, after all of this time thinking and trying to avoid you, I've realized it's much more than that."

"You . . ." Her gulp was a lot less quiet than his. "You rejected Melody, but you . . . love _me?_"

He nodded. "Melody doesn't call me "darling" all of the time, does she?" Her mouth twitched, and he smiled at the reaction. "She doesn't let me be friends with whoever I want, or make me comfortable with sharing my problems with her. She doesn't have my back–during missions, yes, but for everything else . . ."

"She doesn't constantly taunt you, either." She gave him a small smile, making his grow into a pleased grin. "Or call herself "Rose-a-bitch", like she rightly should."

"She's not tough and arrogant, calling herself the best leader of the best team in town. She's not sarcastic, witty, refined or quietly gorgeous." He enjoyed making her blush, although his face grew red at the same time. "She's not _you._ And _you're_ the person I love. Not her."

She looked down, looking rather anxious at his confession.

"No, I'm not going to ask you to say the same to me." He let go of her shoulders and nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't put that sort of pressure on you. Not when you're so worried about it. I can wait."

She made an indignant noise and glanced back up at him. "I'm not _worried._" She smirked slyly at him, saying, "That would mean that I _cared_ about your opinion. Which I don't."

He smiled. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." After a moment of thought, though, he pointed out, "But, you'll have to make-up with your teammates _eventually_."

She groaned, hanging her head in defeat. "I know, but . . . Arceus, I want to be _sure_ that they trust me."

"They trust you." He nodded encouragingly. "And they'd love to have their leader–their _friend _back."

She looked up at him, searching for the confidence his voice radiated and trying to take some for herself, and then straightened up determinedly, a fire burning in her eyes.

"Alright. I'll go talk to them."

* * *

_And so, she finally resolves her problem with her teammates, with the help of Rain and Bobby (and a little help from a pissed Melody, too). Ah, it's so great to finally finish this! And what a great way to end it, too. Well, I hope it meets and surpasses all of the readers' expectations! And please, go out and write this pairing! It's one of my favorites, especially PMD-style! *does happy dance*_

* * *

_Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),  
~DL ('Dragon Lover')_


End file.
